Chapter 12

Page Twelve.

When I'm flying through the air, it doesn't matter if it's the night or the day…I am free. For a moment in time, I don't belong to anyone but my dragon, and it makes the Decidere worth every tortured second.

"Happy birth year, little Tory!" Kyrell shouts, coming into the room, shutting the door behind him. His helmet is tucked under his one arm, and in the other is a small chocolate cake with a single candle on top, the fire flickering brightly in the darkness. It's noon, and I haven't done anything but crawl back into my bed to rot after the maids changed me.

I climb off my bed, trying to match his smile as I blow it out. It's not his fault. None of this is his fault—it's mine. The smoke drifts up in the air between us, but it does nothing to dim the smile on Kyrell's face. "You shouldn't have got me a cake. And little? I might be shorter than you, but not by much."

A lot, actually. Being short doesn't mean little though.

"Well, you rarely celebrate your birth year. You're twenty years old. That's amazing and you should celebrate it." I frown at him, and he winces. "Maybe not all of today can be a celebration, though. I will bring you wine and snacks when it's over. This year won't be like the last one."

Or the one before that. The prince always takes care to plan a party for my birth year, and it's always a horror show.

I brush my hands down the silky red dress that I'm wearing as it falls from my shoulders all the way to the floor. The king is coming here today, the first time in all the years I've been here, and finally my birth year might not be as terrible as it usually is. I can't help the sour tang in the back of my throat that lingers every time I see a birth year cake and it reminds me of my mother. It's been so many years since I've seen or heard from her…and I dare not say her name in this castle. If the prince knew she was alive…I shiver. He would bring her here and use her to make me obey him without beating me. Not that I fight him very much anymore.

There are still things he hasn't made me do and one line I never want to cross. I will never, ever kill someone. Several of the nobles regularly visit to have fun with the prince , but the king and queen don't travel much. I've met one of the princesses and wished I hadn't. The queen isn't coming on this trip, and I'm thankful for that, with the rumours I've heard. Kyrell lowers his voice. "I heard the king's coming to visit to see the renovations to the city he's made. Noble Lewin whispered it to me last night."

At least one of us gets to fall in love and spend their nights in the arms of someone they choose. Kyrell met a high up noble called Lewin at one of the balls, and he has been regularly visiting him for two years now. Kyrell told me he loves him, and I can't imagine how it's possible to ever love a vampyre. It's the only thing we don't agree on.

The prince never tells me about things that happen outside the castle, and I don't dare ask. Today I have a task from the prince that doesn't involve being trapped in these few rooms for his enjoyment. I have to keep the king's favourite busy and amused. I get to meet someone new. I don't know what's wrong with me, because once, that would have been exciting, but now I feel nothing. "Interesting. Do you know what renovations are going on in the city?"

He shakes his head. "I'm going to ask around though." He stops whispering. "Are you looking forward to meeting the king's favourite? You two will have things in common."

"I have to amuse her and show her around," I mutter. "How exactly do I do that? There's nothing in this castle to keep anybody amused."

He laughs. "I'm sure she's nice and you'll figure it out. Surprisingly to you, most people like you when they meet you, little Tory. You're nice, you know."

"Am I?" I frown.

He never says anything but the truth. "Yes, when you're not struggling to find a reason to live. You're fighting and I'm proud of you. You're still here and that is amazing." I wince. Struggling is a light word for the many attempts that I've made to leave this place, this world. The times where the darkness truly crept up on me and made it feel like I was drowning in the thin air. Like the walls were caving in and there was nothing left for me in this world, no light and nothing worth it. He is proud of me. For what, not jumping from the window and dying?

The prince comes into the room many moments later, kissing me deeply and possessively, but I feel nothing but the cold of his touch. He is excited, practically shaking with it. "My father's just arrived. I will send his favourite up here to you. Her name is Avaluna." He kisses my cheek. "Be nice and I will reward you."

I shiver as he walks off, Kyrell leaving the doors open as he follows him out, and I nervously wait. It feels like hours later before a fae woman walks in. She has long black hair, and she is absolutely beautiful—stunning even. She's shorter than me and she instantly reminds me of the pixies from the tales that my mum used to tell me sometimes. Tiny, pretty little creatures that lived in the trees of the forest and caused mayhem when they got bored. She's slender but curvy in her red dress, and there's a spark in her blue eyes. She immediately lowers her head, her silky hair falling over her slender shoulders. "It's a pleasure to meet you, favourite Story Dehana."

I bow my head back to her. "Same. I'm afraid I'm not sure exactly what we should do today. I was told to keep you amused in the castle, but unless you like grey stone walls and paintings of castles that are on the walls of the castle, there really isn't much here."

She laughs and smiles so big her cheeks crease with the movement. "Your company would be more than I need. Perhaps gardens?" She walks to my window, looking over the thick forest that spreads to the city in the distance. "I like visiting all of the gardens of the places we travel. It's strange to me how certain flowers, trees and plants grow so differently in the cities, but they share the same name. Are there any here?"

I think of the garden where I met Emyr. "Yes, but there's a bit of a peculiar way to get into it."

Her eyes flash with interest. "How?"

I find myself smiling at this stranger, liking her already. Maybe because she is someone new, maybe because her life mirrors mine. I walk her downstairs, through the kitchen, and people move aside, many of them bowing their heads. I quickly learn the fae workers do not talk to the blood slaves here, and no matter how many times I've tried to speak to them, they never say a word. If I didn't have Kyrell, I would talk to no one but the prince. Fear flashes in their eyes enough that I stopped trying to ask them questions, begging them to say a word.

I lead her into the small room at the back of the kitchen, flashes of memories of Emyr ripping across my mind. Opening the window, I step out onto the ledge. The wind is warm as it blows my cloak around my legs, and Avaluna looks at me in horror. "I didn't come here to jump out of a window with you, crazy woman."

"I'm not asking you to jump out a window with me. Come on, I'll show you the gardens." I might be mad for this, knowing if she falls that I might as well jump with her. She nervously looks at me, but she takes my hand and climbs out of the window with me. We walk round the edge, and I jump down into the garden. It's as beautiful as the first time I came here, and I haven't come back since. I should have done. She follows right after me, her big eyes widening as she takes in the garden. "Wow, this place is beautiful. You were right, Story. How many other secrets do you have?"

"None. I'm trapped here." My answer echoes between us, my voice hollow.

She sighs. "You've given up, haven't you? I've met so many blood slaves that share that look in your eyes, the numbness, the feeling that life isn't worth fighting for. Isn't there some part of this life you like?" Maybe she is insane. "I mean, trust me, being trapped in the protection of the royals is better than out there. Where I came from…this life is better."

She isn't convincing me. "Where exactly is that?"

"The Valin lands of the south," she tells me. "It's where I get this beautiful tan from. The king spends most of his time there, but I go with him on all of his travels. He doesn't like me out of his sight."

The sunlight shines into her hair, and it flashes red, shimmering against the black. "It's bad there. I mean, we have districts with breeding, workers, and the blood slaves like here, but it's worse. So much worse. Being fae…it's a curse there."

I clear my throat. Being a fae is a curse for anyone born this way in this world. "What's wrong with you that you came to be a blood slave?"

She blinks at my blunt question, and for a moment I remember that was rude. "Nothing. I was born into the workers, but my parents died when I was really young. I was taken to the orphanages of the workers and…" She pauses. "When I was ten, the king came. I don't know why he came, what he was looking for exactly, but he took one look at me, clicked his fingers, and I was taken to the palace. He saved me, treated me well, and I will be forever thankful. I didn't see him again till I was fifteen, and then he made it very clear that I was his favourite, and that was the end of that. He used to have several favourites, but he has never taken another after me. We get along so well; I might even call it love."

Saved her? Love? How bad could it have been for her to truly believe he saved her for this life? I can't get the words out of my mouth for a second. "How old are you now?"

"Twenty. Now tell me your life tale so we might be even and call each other friends," she asks. I tell her my story, how similar to mine hers is, but a bit different. "Is your mother still alive?"

"My mother still lives, but I've not been able to speak to her since I was fourteen." Immediately I regret the words out of my mouth. This isn't a friend of mine, this isn't Kyrell. She could tell the prince and all the years I've spent protecting her would be for nothing. The last letter I had, I still see those words written across the paper again and again, wishing that I could know more of them. Wishing I could read them one more time, and now I might have just killed her.

"You are brave, Story Dehana, and I will keep your secret. I have a secret for you in return to show we are friends. I have a sister and I make sure the king never sees her in the castle," she whispers and my heart pounds. I don't have a choice but to trust her. "I don't know if we will ever see each other again, but I am glad to have met you. I'm sure when I get older, my king will get bored with me and find someone else. The favourite before me, she only lived till she was twenty-eight, according to some of the workers in the castles. I won't live that long if the queen ever gets that annoyed with me. I've made a plan so my sister will be safe, and that's all that matters in the end. Keeping our family safe." I smile tightly at her even as she casually talks about dying. It wouldn't just be death; it would be brutally murdered by a vampyre king. Killed by the man she claims loves her.

I touch the bark of the tree nearest me. "At least the prince doesn't have a fiancée or princess to get jealous of me."

"He's had many options, you know," she tells me. Something I didn't know. "I mean, I've seen them, but he rejects every single one. He has no interest in any of them. Much to his father's annoyance."

We both stop by a bunch of yellow flowers. The petals are square, and in the centre of each flower is a green diamond-shaped dot. "I'm surprised by that. The way he speaks of his father, I thought he would do anything he asked."

She laughs. "He usually does. He is the heir, the only male heir that matters to the king, and he wants him to finally settle down, to have many children, to find a female vampyre worthy."

I watch her, how happy she seems to be. "Are you really happy with your life? Is this all you want?"

She turns on me, touching her arm, which is covered in bite marks. They litter her skin, from her neck down, so many visible compared to me. "You've never left this city, Story. Dying as a blood slave to the king is an honour and a good life compared to the majority of the fae. Working until your bones all break or your heart gives in, or being on your back in the breeding communities until childbirth eventually takes you…how is that better?" She shakes her head at me. "I love the king, and he is kind to me when he can be."

Love? That's an odd word for her to say when she is speaking about the vampyre who bites, feeds, and uses her until someone new catches his attention. I know I haven't seen the world and how bad it might be out there, but this isn't a life to be honoured and wanted. I show her the rest of the gardens before we sit down in the grass, looking at the sparkling sun above. I keep my voice quiet so nobody can hear us. "Do you know why the king is here?"

"He never talks about this city, and he talks a lot, all the time, but never really mentions what he's here for," she admits, biting on her lip. "But one evening, the queen came to his rooms. I hid with the workers, like I always do when she is near, and I overheard them argue about this city. I only heard that there's something here, particularly in this land, that they're looking for. A weapon. She said it would change everything and it wasn't worth the risk. The king disagreed and told her to get out."

"What weapon? Did they say what it was?" I question.

She shakes her head. "No, he had other fae in his room, and he killed them all for overhearing. He only kept me alive and told me to forget what I heard."

But she didn't, and she told me. The prince kills his blood slaves regularly in front of me, too. It's not something that's new, but every single time, I wish I could save them—I never can. He only keeps me alive, too. "Why would they need a weapon? There's nothing in this world that could stop them."

She looks me dead in the eye, and for a moment, she looks defiant. "Isn't that the perfect question? Keep asking, keep questioning. For us, it is the only way we can help our people. It will help you too. It might make you want to live."

The memory fades away as I get down the steps in front of the pathway towards the Decidere. I never did see her again. I don't know if she's the king's favourite anymore, but I hope so. She was the closest thing to an actual female friend that I ever had before Catherine. I find Catherine in the crowd, after leaving Daegan, and stand at her side. There are considerably fewer of us here for the second test, and I try not to think about what happened to the others. I turn around when someone touches my shoulder, surprised to see Calix there. He grins at me, and at his side are the twin guards from the Moon Dynasty. "Good luck today. I hope we will ride our dragons through the ground tunnels when this is over."

One of the twins elbows him. "Introduce us, or we just look like we're guarding you."

I smile as Calix winks at me. "Maybe I need protection from?—"

"Calix," one of them terrifyingly hisses.

Calix rightfully looks concerned and turns to me. "This is Estrid and Astrid, twins and guards of the Moon Dynasty."

"That's our brother over there." She points at the guy that pushed me over the bridge.

I narrow my eyes at his back. "I can't say we're friends."

Astrid winces, while the other one smiles. Calix just shakes his head at them both. "They were coming over here to wish you good luck, and somehow they managed to freak you out. That sums up the twins." His eyes drift over my shoulder, and I follow them just for a second to see him staring at Etena. She's at Daegan's side, and they're talking quietly between each other. She looks over like she can sense his stare, and for a second, they just seem to look at each other like there isn't anyone else here before she sharply turns away. He doesn't stop staring for a few seconds before he looks down at me. "Good luck today."

Stupidly, my eyes are searching in the Moon Dynasty group for their king. "You too. Where's Ziven?"

Calix smirks. "Our king is not here. He had something he had to do, but he sent me." I nod once and Calix lowers his voice. "Don't die, I want to see you beat Ziven in training in the future for all the times he has been a dick."

I chuckle as he leaves, surprised he just called his king a dick. I mean, he is, but I wasn't expecting him to say it. He goes back over to the rest of the ones that I barely know the names of, yet I've sat around and eaten with them for dinner. If I survive this, maybe Ziven won't lock me in a room for the entire three days next time. I might actually get to speak to some of them. Catherine stays at my side, her shoulder nearly touching mine. "You seem to have made friends in the Moon Dynasty."

"I don't know if friends is a good title for it yet." I smile at her. "Good luck today. I know you'll do great."

"So will you," she answers, and I notice her hands shaking. I don't know how I'm not as scared as she is. She follows my gaze, and I quickly avert my eyes. "I don't know how I got through the first Decidere. I'm terrible at training. No matter how much I do, I just never seem to lose my curves. The only thing I'm good at is a bow and arrow. Considering my last one didn't have those in there, I barely got through." She gasps. "Shit, I shouldn't have spoken about it. I probably just cursed myself for the next round."

"You're okay, Cath. You didn't tell me anything."

"Oh, my deities, you just gave me a nickname. Does that mean we are best friends now?" She sounds so genuine and excited, even as the title best friend sinks my heart a little. I can't give that title to anyone else. It belonged to my best friend who saved my life.

Thankfully, Daegan walks in front of the doors, a light show flashing above our heads to gain attention. "There's no speech this time. You do not need any more words to prepare you. May the dragons and deities judge you well."

He looks at me for a fraction of a second, a tic in his jaw pulsing, and the look in his eyes makes me think he wants to stop me from going in there, but he steps aside. The doors click open, and everyone rushes forward like soldiers heading to the front lines. I stay at Catherine's side, knowing I have to help her. "Come with me."

She frowns my way, but she nods once. I get to the door first, and I glance back through the chaos to make sure Catherine is right behind me. Dragons' roars echo, sensing us in their space, and I don't linger. My shoes clap on the ground as I run to the left, taking Catherine with me straight towards the steps that lie away from the crowd. There are two dragons hovering, flying in the air above the pillars across the bridge, and they don't waste time sending cascades of fire down on the group rushing across the bridge. Catherine looks at me in surprise as we start running down the steps, down and down, straight to the massive lake. Breathless, we both pause. "How did you know this was here?"

"Dumb luck," I breathlessly mutter back, resting my hands on my knees. My breath halts in the back of my throat when I see the dragon. At the edge of the pillars, there's a dragon curled up. It's asleep, its stone body crackling with every breath, its giant wings spread out in front of the pillars.

Catherine is still, and I don't need to ask if she has seen it. "We need to get past it."

I gulp. "Without waking it up might be a good idea." Although it's pointless to say that out loud, as we both know it. I see the red light in the distance, deep in the pillars, calling to me. Catherine throws her head that way, too. But her gaze drifts further to the left. She must see something, too. "Out of curiosity, what colour do you see?"

She frowns. "Yellow, like sunlight. Everyone sees yellow." I don't dare tell her that there isn't an ounce of yellow in mine, that it's pure, blazing red. I'm silent as we manage to make our way past the dragon, across the cracked wing, and just as we get in the pillars, I hear it. I turn around and see the dragon climbing to its feet, opening its massive mouth, and fire spreads out of it in thick flames. I scream, jumping behind a pillar just as it blazes past me, rows of it dancing between the stone. Flames burn the sides of my boots, my arm and leg, and it takes everything in me not to scream. I take a second to breathe through the pain before I run. I charge down the pillars, feeling the heat at my back, seeing Catherine running too, not far from me. Our eyes meet for a second, and I nod at her. Don't die.

I throw myself at the red light of the pillar, barely seeing the dragon symbol before I fall straight through it and land face-first in a bed of roses. I pick up a petal off my face as I roll over, thorns cutting into the backs of my arms and the burns on my legs.

I wince as I stand and look around me. There's nothing but empty fields as far as I can see, and in front of me is a path. Not a path. It's too big to be a path, but more like a racing track for horses. Rows of stripes line it for miles, and in the far distance, there's a cliff face. A single cliff of ragged stone reaching far up into the sky, and on the edge of it is a wooden shack that's on fire. A scream echoes to me as the front wall of the shack falls away straight towards the end of the track.

My blood goes still when I see where the scream came from. There's a little girl in the room. I can only see her red hair. She's curled around herself as she screams for help repeatedly. I don't know how I'm going to get up there, or how I'm really going to help her when I get there, but I take off without a second thought. I only get so far before I come across a big empty stretch of water, and inside, there are creatures swimming around fast, their powerful bodies slithering through the water. Every so often I catch a flash of teeth, sharp enough to make me hesitate. "Deities, dragons, whoever designed this is mad!"

I don't know if anyone is listening to me. Turning back, I see the bed of roses and the pillar I came in on waiting for me. I can go back. This is a test of choice, and if I go back, I will have the one dragon mark to show for it. The girl screams again, and her scream is familiarly terrified. I've been that scared before, screamed like that more than once. I can't leave her, even if this might not be real…it could be.

Think, Story.If I go in that water, whatever these creatures are will very likely rip me apart. I search around the edge of the water to see that the one side has stones. Circular stones, rows of them, but they're quite far apart. Each jump is going to be difficult. If I fall… I can't fall.

I glance at the girl screaming. This is the test. If I fail it, that girl could die, and I'm not a coward. She could be real for all I know. I don't know who she is, but she could be. With every bit of strength I've got left, I force my legs to move. I get to the first stone and jump onto it. The creatures come closer, sensing me, wrapping tightly around the stones, waiting.

I ignore them, will myself to pretend they don't exist, and jump to the next one. I'm absolutely terrified as I go from one to the other, and just as I'm second to the last, my foot slips. My legs fall straight into the water as I cling to the stone, digging my nails into the grooves. A scream wrenches out of my throat as one of them bites into my thigh, tearing at my skin with its long teeth. I pull myself up on the ledge, screaming as I yank the silky creature off me. It kind of looks like an eel but with razor-sharp teeth. I throw it back in the water and wince at the state of my leg. There's a huge bite mark there, four puncture holes, deep and bleeding everywhere. It is oozing some yellow kind of fluid out of it—poison, maybe. I need to move quickly before the poison sets in. Everything is spinning as I manage to stand, trying not to put too much weight on my bad leg. One stone left. Just two jumps and I'm done for now.

The girl's screams make my heart beat faster and give me enough courage to jump. I stumble on the stone, barely catching myself before I fall straight off the other side. Before I can talk myself out of it, I run and jump off the stone to the other side, landing harshly on my knees. A jolt of pain radiates through my leg, and the entire world spins.

Once the spinning has stopped, I dizzily stand and begin making my way down the path. The path is sloped up and down hills, and I drag my leg as I try to run. Going down them is quite easy; up is another thing altogether. I'm sweating from head to toe as I get to another clearing and pause. There's nothing but an empty gap between two cliff walls, and three pieces of long rope hanging between it. I glance at the sky. "You've got to be kidding. I don't like heights!"

The girl is still shouting, screaming for help, and I glance up to see there's a metal ladder to the room at the top. If I can climb the stone wall, I can get to her and then get back down. It'll be safe. This can't stop me. I grab the rope. I can do this. Just jump across. Just jump across.

For a moment, I can't make my feet move through the pounding fear. I can't manage to get them to move at all as my hands freeze on the rope. What would Kyrell tell me to do? He would laugh, tell me to fucking jump and live a little. He would be right, of course. Eventually, I tell myself I've got to do it, I've got to move. I pull the rope back as far as I can before I run and jump. My hands slip down the rope as my feet take off, and I scream all the way across as I barely manage to hold on to it before I slam onto the other side. Breathlessly, I climb to my feet.

"I did it!" I whisper to myself, pride burning through my chest. It only lasts a second as the world spins and dark spots prick my vision. I'm running out of time. Climbing is not exactly my forte, but I can manage to do it. Still, I stop at the bottom of the cliff and look up. Give me strength, deities. Show me how to do this. The rocks are jagged enough that I easily find bits to hold onto as I pull myself up, higher and higher, and I don't dare let myself look down. Rocks cut into my trousers as I climb, using the small ledges to get higher.

Sweat is dripping off me, down my face, my cheeks and back, by the time I get halfway. The ladder is swaying as I look up, or maybe it's my vision. Either way, I feel terrible. I can't stop. I'm breathing heavily by the time I manage to pull myself to the ladder and climb onto the bottom step, clinging to the bars. Keep going. I have to keep going before I pass out. The ladder is metal, and the higher I go up, the warmer the bars turn until they are uncomfortably hot to touch. It doesn't burn my hands, but it won't be long before it does. I manage to climb onto the top step to look inside the wooden room, at the little girl, who looks up at me. I pause.

She looks just like I did as a child. Long red hair, black tips, and a white dress that is now covered in ash. "You came for me. You came for me when it's terrifying to do so?"

"Yes," I breathe, climbing into the room. How is this possible? "I came for you. Come on, we need to go."

"I'm scared." Her cry echoes to me as I carefully walk across the burning planks of flooring.

"It's okay to be scared, just…you have to walk through it and know there is something better on the other side. A room that isn't burning down, and it is standing on its own," I whisper, offering her my hand. She looks right into my eyes with eyes that mirror my own before she stands up and takes my hand. The second her hand touches mine, she fades away into nothing, and the flames burn high into the surrounding sky, blocking the ladder off. I fall to my knees, everything swaying and blurring within seconds.

I don't remember passing out, but I must have, because the next thing I'm aware of is water flooding my lungs. I cough, lifting my head out of the water and pushing on the rocks under my feet to stand in it. I'm not alone. I see someone watching me from the steps.

A tall, massive man. He is drenched in water. It drips on the stone as we stare at each other. I can't tell who it is—it's too dark, and a hood covers his face. He lifts his hand, and my eyes widen as a stone dragon swoops across the air over my head, pebbles falling off its enormous body into the water, and it heads straight into the man, who effortlessly jumps onto its back before it takes off into the cavern. Whoever that was, I think he just saved my life.